Auger-pointed fence-post



No. 624,987. I Patented May l6, I899. H. SHELDON 8|. 3. A. LUUKWU UD.

STA ES PATENT OFFICE.

HUDSON SHELDON AND STEPHEN A. LOGKWOOD, QF MILAN, OHIO.

AUGER-POINTED FENCELPOST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,987, dated Ma 16, 1899.

Application filed August so, 1898. Serial to. 689,857. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HUIQSON SHELDON and STEPHEN A. LOOKWOOD,CitiZenS of the United States, residing at Milan, in the county of Erie and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Auger- Pointed Fence-Posts; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to tubular iron fenceposts, and more particularly to that class in which the lower end of. the post is formed with integral auger-blades to facilitate the insertion of the post in the ground; and the object is to provide a simple and effective device for this purpose.

To this end the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the device, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the lower end of our improved fence-post. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 shows the manner of slitting the lower end of the tube to form the cutters. Fig. 4. shows the manner of applying the device to a solid fence-post. Fig. 5 shows another form of blade.

1 denotes the tubular fence-post, which may be of any suitable dimensions to correspond to the use to which it is to be put. The lower end of this tube is first slitted, as shown in Fig. 3, by forming it with the diverging slots 4 and 5, which divide the end into a series of V-shaped teeth 6 and an intermediate series of approximately rectangular blades 7. The teeth 6 are preferably sharpened on their edges and left in situ, while the blades 7 are curved spirally outward in the same plane and their edges 8 and 9 sharpened, as shown, to facilitate their cutting their way through the earth.

The manner of inserting the post is as follows: A suitable cross-bar (not shown) is temporarily clamped to the body of the post and the toothed end placed upon the ground and pressure applied vertically at the same time that the post is continuously rotated to the right by means of the cross-bar above mentioned. In rotating the post, as above described, the teeth 6 act as guides in cutting out the solid core of earth, which in turn eX= tends upward through the bore in the pipe or tube and in turn forms a solid central guide for the tube to rotate on, and thereby insures its vertical insertion in the ground. At the same time the cutting-blades 7 7 force their way, screw fashion, through the earth until the post has been inserted to the proper depth, the blades 7 7 forming a practically continuous flange which serves to firmly anchorit in the ground. Should it be necessary for any reason to remove the post, by simply reversin g the movement the post may be withdrawn without leaving an unsightly opening, and for this reason it forms anideal post for grassplots, lawns, and the like and for tennis and other posts employed in such games. The same principle is equally applicable to hitching, lamp, gas, and electric-light posts, as well as telegraph-poles and other devices of a like nature which require to be firmly supported in the ground.

In Fig. 4 we have shown a solid post, which may be of wood or cast-iron and suitably ornamented and the lower end of our tubular post fixed to it.

In Fig. 5 we have dispensed with the V- shaped teeth 6 and converted the entire end into the spirally-formed cutting-blades arranged in the same radial plane, and other modifications will readily suggest themselves to a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s-- 1. A fence-post having its lower edge formed with a series of longitudinal V-shaped teeth, and an alternating series of spiral cuttingblades, substantially as shown and described.

2. A tubular metallic post having its lower edge formed with a series of integral longitudinal V-shaped teeth and an alternating series of integral spiral cuttingblades 7 arranged in the same radial plane, substantially .as shown and described. 

